"Liz."
I stop moving. Meet her eyes.
"What happened?"
The words tumble out before I can stop them—Daniel cornering me in the lobby, threatening to evict Colleen. The letter that showed up at Reeves' place, all venom and karma and punishment. How I can't shake the feeling he's watching me. How I'm terrified he'll go after Julian next.
Jenna's face goes pale. "Jesus Christ, Liza."
"I know."
"That's not—" She stops herself mid-sentence, her mouth pressing into a hard line as she shakes her head slowly, deliberately, like she's trying to process what I just told her. "That's stalking, Liza. Full-on harassment. You need to go to the police right now and file a report. Like, today."
"And tell them what, exactly? That he sent me a creepy letter?" I let out a laugh, but it comes out harsh and bitter, scraping against my throat. "They're going to ask for proof, Jen, and I don't have any. There's no signature on that thing. No return address. Nothing that actually ties it back to Daniel in any concrete way that would hold up."
"Liza, this guy isdangerous."
"I know."
"No, I don't think you do." She grabs my hand across the bar. "You need to be careful. Document everything. Keep that letter. Screenshot every weird text."
"I am being careful."
"Are you?" Her eyes bore into mine. "Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you're pretending everything's fine when it's really, really not."
I slide into the booth across from Colleen, the café's espresso machine hissing in the background. She's already got two lattes waiting, foam art wilting on the surface.
"Thanks for meeting me." She pushes one across.
"Of course." I wrap my hands around the cup. "What's going on?"
She leans in, voice dropping. "I have a plan. To get Dylan's phone."
My stomach tightens. "Colleen—"
"There's a party. This Friday. Dylan's going to be there." Her eyes are bright, determined. "Claudia's best friend told me about it. Some house on Dorchester, not far from my place."
"You want me to steal his phone at a party?"
"Not steal. Borrow." She pulls out her phone, scrolling to a photo of a lanky guy with a shaved head and neck tattoos. "That's Dylan. He'll be wasted within an hour, guaranteed. You just need to grab it long enough for your tech guy to clone it or whatever he does."
"Colleen, this is insane."
"Claudia's been missing for over two months." Her voice cracks. "Four months, Liza. The police won't do shit because she had a record. Because she ran away once before when she wasfourteen. But she wouldn't just disappear. Not without telling me."
The desperation in her face guts me. Colleen's the one who brought me soup when I had the flu last winter. The one who listened to me cry about my dad at three in the morning. The one who never once judged me for the mess with Daniel.
"I know." I take a breath. "What do you need me to do?"
Relief floods her features. "Just be there. Blend in. Flirt with him, distract him. When he's distracted, steal the phone and get out of there.”
"What if he notices me trying to steal his phone?”
"He won't. Trust me, Dylan's idea of a good time is shotgunning beers and playing beer pong until he passes out." She reaches across the table, gripping my hand. "You're the only person I can ask. I can't do this myself, obviously. But you're young, pretty. You'll fit right in."
I think about Claudia. Fifteen. Troubled, yeah, but still just a kid. Still someone's niece, someone's daughter.
Still someone who deserves to be found.
